Seòmar agus comataidhean

Good morning. I want to begin by asking about the model lease for environmental purposes. Do you think that it serves a practical purpose, and can you foresee any potential issues with the approach that is set out in the bill?

Martin Hall is looking directly at me, so I invite him to respond first.

I am happy to do so. On the point about nitrogen in the soil, is there anything that you can advise the committee on?

I have a final question on this part of the bill. As we take evidence, we are looking to make suggested improvements to the bill and identify possible areas for amendment at a later stage. Is there anything that you would like to add on the provision that we are discussing? Should it remain in the bill? Should it be changed in any way?

That is helpful, thank you.

One change that was made between the draft and the final regulations was to remove the default requirement to monitor nitrogen in the soil. Are you aware of the background to that change? What impact will that have on the robustness of the regime for sewage sludge?

That is helpful. I understand that SEPA might be changing the way that the out-of-hours contact centre operates by moving to a more automated system. You can correct me if I have got that wrong. If that is the case, what assessment has been made of the impact of the change on transitioning to the new framework that we have just discussed?

When will the change to the customer hub approach come into effect?

I do not want to be pushy if you do not have the information at hand, Lin, but we will take you up on the commitment to write to us, because it feels as though it might be a not insignificant change.

I think that the committee understands the distinction, but it is clear that, in the close working relationship between SEPA, as a regulator, and the Scottish Government, there has been discussion, dialogue and input in relation to those matters. Having as much information about those aspects as possible in the public domain would help us to understand why certain decisions have been made.

I have one final question on sewage sludge. To what extent are the provisions in line with existing European Union law, and are you aware of any divergence?

What have you identified as the key risks to the implementation of those plans?

So there could be further changes, which we have to take into account. I will leave it there, convener.